It's one of the UCI world tour events and therefore a million times more important than the Tour of Britain that garnered so much interest and support on this forum. More than that the UCI is using it to develop its interests in China, a biggish chunk of the sporting world.

I think if the race perseveres then it has potential to be very interesting - it goes through some incredible scenery and the stages are often well designed. It does suffer from its place in the calendar - by the time the world champs is over I think everyone (fans, riders, media) are ready for a bit of a break, and only those teams/riders desperate for WorldTour points will put in any real effort.